Pay freeze bid heats up

Mayors, school officials see limit on salaries as way to handle anticipated tax cap

By RICK KARLIN Capitol bureau

Published 12:00 am, Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Photo: Paul Buckowski

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A graph shows, according to York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials, how city employee benefit costs would exceed capped property taxes, is seen on display during a news conference held by members of the New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials at the Legislative Office Building in Albany, on Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010. Mayors and municipal officials from around the state came to Albany to release their plan of recommendations for property tax relief. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) less

A graph shows, according to York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials, how city employee benefit costs would exceed capped property taxes, is seen on display during a news conference held by ... more

Photo: Paul Buckowski

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Cohoes Mayor John McDonald III, addresses those gathered during a news conference held by members of the New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials at the Legislative Office Building in Albany, on Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010. The Cohoes mayor sees problems ahead if a tax cap is approved with no help to limit spending, including a pay freeze. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) less

Cohoes Mayor John McDonald III, addresses those gathered during a news conference held by members of the New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials at the Legislative Office Building in ... more

Photo: Paul Buckowski

Pay freeze bid heats up

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ALBANY -- Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo wants to impose a wage freeze on state workers, and now a group of New York mayors wants the same for their employees.

They believe the governor and lawmakers have the authority to freeze the pay of municipal workers, teachers and other local employees -- if they want to.

Mayors and school board officials believe the move would give them budgetary breathing room to deal with the property tax cap that many believe is politically inevitable.

"There would be a fiscal pause, if you will," said Peter Baynes, executive director of the state Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials.

A statewide freeze on local government employees, he said, could save up to $44 million and give municipalities leeway if, as Cuomo recommends, their property tax increases were capped at 2 percent annually or the inflation rate.

Without the freeze -- and given the skyrocketing pension and health care costs they are paying their unionized employees -- the mayors say a tax cap would force them to impose massive layoffs in order to balance their books.

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Among union officials, the call for a pay freeze received a reception that was about as chilly as Tuesday's weather.

"Gov. Cuomo can say that because he's going to negotiate with state employees, and local mayors and school boards are going to say it because they are going to sit down with their local bargaining units," Iannuzzi said.

NYSUT officials also stress that teachers in the past year have agreed to modest raises, ranging between 1 percent and 3 percent.

Madarasz said the mayors seem to be complaining about pay packages despite the fact that they signed off on them. "They negotiate the salaries," said Madarasz. "If you don't like your agreement, don't come to an agreement."

But the mayors, who on Tuesday held a news conference in Albany and who plan to travel the state with their message, maintain that state rules regarding contract negotiations with public employee unions have tied their hands and give them little leverage when it comes to driving a harder bargain.

Stalled contracts, they note, can go to arbitration panels that are often opaque to the public and frequently side with unions. And state law forces contract terms to remain in place with public employee unions, even during an impasse.

The call for a freeze comes amid a growing consensus in some quarters that Cuomo will push through a property tax cap next year.

"We know darn well probably by July 1 ... there is going to be a tax cap," Cohoes Mayor John McDonald said.

Along with a freeze, mayors say they need reform in laws such as those governing disability claims. Current statutes, they claim, allow injured police and firefighters to continue earning pension credits even if they are off the job for extended periods of time due to a disability.

Why haven't legislators -- many of whom come from the ranks of local officials before seeking office in the Assembly or Senate -- reversed laws that mayors say cost them so many taxpayer dollars? "They've lost their way," Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings said.

In order to impose a freeze, lawmakers and the governor would likely have to declare the state's cities, school districts and other government entities to be in a state of financial emergency. They could then be placed under a special control board, similar to what was done in Buffalo within the past decade.